Giant Snail Pies to Feed the Malnourished in Africa – Treehugger
Mmmmm yummy.
Ukpong Udofia of the University of Uyo recently completed her research on the nutritional content of the African Giant Snail, a resilient animal that has become a notorious invasive species around the world. The snail is incredibly common in swamps and forests of Africa, and is a popular novelty pet in the US.
But it’s also rich in protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and many essential vitamins. According to Science Daily, Udofia’s study compared the snail meat to a beef steak, and found the snail to be superior in every way. It’s cheaper, more nutritious, and easier to obtain. Which means it could help address malnutrition in many more communities than beef, the typically pursued iron and protein source, ever could. It’s evidently best eaten in a sort of simple-to-make pie.
“Udofia and her research team baked pies of both varieties and asked young mothers and their children to try the tasty meal. Most of them preferred the taste and texture of the pies baked with the snail Archachatina marginata to those made with beef. The kids and their mothers judged the snail pies to have a better appearance, texture, and flavor.”
Grand pâté en croûte d’escargots. See, say it in French, people eat it.
Why not a snail pet?
“Here boy… here boy. Wanna play fetch?”
Okay. Me bad. Pass the ketchup.
ahhhwwww! run we are being invaded by Giant Gastropods mmmmm gastropod(thank you France) this would be a great B-Movie (B-Movie, love that Delbert McClinton) am I babbling or speaking in tongues? you decide
“popular novelty pet in the US” ???????
Really? where?
(soon to go on the ‘endangered species’ list!)
where is Uyo?
OK! Nigeria!
Nice web page too!
With the economy going the way it is, with all those wonderful Obamajobs and such, you can expect to see these appearing on your dinner plate shortly. If that doesn’t quite appeal to your tastebuds, you can always wash it down with a nice glass of warm garbage water.
And if you still can’t stomach it, you’ll be labeled a racist by the democrats for not embracing the foods and customs of other cultures.
Where will they get all the garlic and butter they’ll need?
Two things: I’ve worked in several African nations and basically have found that if it is edible, someone is eating it. So, why aren’t they eating it? Will eating it increase the already high rates of bilharzia?
Second: that top photo is sooooo ‘shopped!
Not Photoshopped at all: they really are that big:
Snail smoothie. Mmmmm
It’s making me hungry.
I’ve nothing against the idea of eating snail as long as it is cooked. They do need warm humid conditions or at least not dry cold conditions.
They aren’t going to graze semiarid to arid range land.
On the other hand they might be happy eating your banana peal, apple core, potato peal, etc.
There’s come cultural adaptation. but it’s no different from eating SeaFood. Shrimp, Lobster, Mussel… they are basically the equivalents of Insects and Gastropod that live on water. and the eat dirt too. And we find them yummy. It’s all a matter of cultural adaptation.
Ovenmaster- gimma the staek as well. StoopisFlanders – well said.
Where is the salt when you need it!
If you want to rear these things in your garden, you can kiss your vegetables goodbye, still, snail on its own might be nice.
Gary?!
Nooooooooo!!!!!!!
Africa doesn’t need to be fed, Africa needs to learn how to use condoms.